Invitation from Dr. Kent Smith – Sleep and Wellness

An Invitation from the President
The American Sleep and Breathing Academy’s (ASBA) “Sleep and Wellness” meeting is less than two months away. This multi-disciplinary sleep medicine meeting is scheduled for April 21-22 in Phoenix, AZ.

While other groups tend to focus on clinical technique, the ASBA’s annual meeting focuses heavily on practice management for the dentist, which includes building the right team, obtaining proper medical insurance, scheduling, marketing, and finding ways to grow a dental sleep practice. We have also added some names from outside the field that we believe doctors will find interesting and helpful.

Those of us who have practiced for a while understand the benefit of an organization that lobbies for improved reimbursements for oral appliances, while seeking to lower ever-escalating health care costs. This is one of the main reasons I became involved with the ASBA’s Political Action Committee. Of course, we’re not the only group with a PAC, but I suspect we played a small part in galvanizing other groups in the space to become more active. Whatever the case, added involvement from other groups is a positive for our industry and their members.

At ASBA, our goal is to be a little more like a concierge Academy. We want to be more directly accessible and responsive to members needs. Above all, our relentless focus is to make dentists in sleep medicine more successful.

Attend Conferences, Get Out of the Office, Attend Sleep and Wellness
I started to collect conference badges years ago, and now have many hung on a wall in my office. Why do conferences matter? You must never stop learning. Networking is key. Make sure you know who will be there, research them and meet them.

On a final note, in a recent conversation with David Gergen [CEO of ASBA], I said to him that there must be something in the air. I don’t know what it is, and maybe it’s just my own optimism, but I believe that 2017 is going to see huge growth for Dental Sleep Medicine. Dentists can learn and do just about anything, and now is the perfect time to start and/or expand. I think that’s the meta-tip. Don’t procrastinate. Life is short, so get involved in your industry today.

Dr. Smith is a Diplomate of both the American Sleep and Breathing Academy and the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine and is on the Advisory Committee of the Australasian Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. In 2007, he was asked to start a sleep curriculum at the Las Vegas Institute of Advanced Clinical Studies. In 2011, he started the SKISH Initiative (“School Kids in Safe Hands”), to keep bus drivers and students safe on the roads. In 2012, he was the first in Texas to be awarded a Dental Sleep Medicine Facility Accreditation and is the creator of the “Best Sleep Hygiene” app. He is current President of the ASBA.